Wilma Rudolph was born June 23, 1940 in Bethlehem, Tennessee.
Childhood was rough because her dad worked two jobs, one as a railroad porter and the other as a handyman. Her mom worked as a maid for wealthy, rich, white families.
Wilma faced many challenges as a child. She had polio, a debilitating illness, which also made her leg shrink! Next, she had pneumonia and scarlet fever. Wilma couldn’t stand walking in braces. She also grew up with many brothers and sisters. Wilma was the 20th out of 22 children, so she always had someone on her back making sure she didn’t slip off her braces. When Wilma was born she weighed only 4.5 lbs. Her mother would do anything to help her. She drove Wilma 50 miles away to the only black doctor in town. Her mother worked hard to help her with the illness that made her leg twist inward. Everything in life went wrong when she wasn’t allowed to attend school because she couldn’t walk! So that meant her education was a very low standard as a young girl. Finally, by age ten, she was able to attend school and she joined the basketball team. Wilma took after her sister who also played basketball. Her doctor thought she would never walk again but Wilma’s mother kept faith and said she would be walking in no time! So Wilma believed her mom.
Wilma followed the other players’ examples and became very good at basketball. Finally, she was good enough to start as starting guard. She was especially happy because the coach hadn’t put her in for three years! The coach for the tiger’s basketball team called her Skeeter, it was short for mosquito, because she was so fast. Then one day during a state basketball tournament Ed Temple, the coach of the famous Tigerbell’s women’s track team noticed Wilma. Burt School didn’t have the funding for a track team so Ed invited her to the Tennessee State summer sports camp. She fell in love with running and ended up not only winning many races but the title of World’s Fastest Runner! Wilma won three Olympic gold medals at one single Olympic Game. She gained the title in 1960!
Wilma inspired black women that they could do whatever they set their mind to because she showed how she had done the same. She overcame many challenges as a child and now is an amazing runner!
Work Citied Krull, Kathleen. Lives of the athletes thrills, spills (and what the neighbors thought). San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1997.
Krull, Kathleen. Wilma unlimited how Wilma Rudolph became the world's fastest woman. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1996.
Sherrow, Victoria. Wilma Rudolph. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, 2000. http://galenet.galegroup The netTrekker suite of award-winning products. 11 May 2009 <http://elementary.nettrekker.com/subject/>. p.com/servlet/KidsInfoBits?locID=s0510&finalAuth=true
Wilma Rudolph was born June 23, 1940 in Bethlehem, Tennessee.
Childhood was rough because her dad worked two jobs, one as a railroad porter and the other as a handyman. Her mom worked as a maid for wealthy, rich, white families.
Wilma faced many challenges as a child. She had polio, a debilitating illness, which also made her leg shrink! Next, she had pneumonia and scarlet fever. Wilma couldn’t stand walking in braces. She also grew up with many brothers and sisters. Wilma was the 20th out of 22 children, so she always had someone on her back making sure she didn’t slip off her braces. When Wilma was born she weighed only 4.5 lbs. Her mother would do anything to help her. She drove Wilma 50 miles away to the only black doctor in town. Her mother worked hard to help her with the illness that made her leg twist inward. Everything in life went wrong when she wasn’t allowed to attend school because she couldn’t walk! So that meant her education was a very low standard as a young girl. Finally, by age ten, she was able to attend school and she joined the basketball team. Wilma took after her sister who also played basketball. Her doctor thought she would never walk again but Wilma’s mother kept faith and said she would be walking in no time! So Wilma believed her mom.
Wilma followed the other players’ examples and became very good at basketball. Finally, she was good enough to start as starting guard. She was especially happy because the coach hadn’t put her in for three years! The coach for the tiger’s basketball team called her Skeeter, it was short for mosquito, because she was so fast. Then one day during a state basketball tournament Ed Temple, the coach of the famous Tigerbell’s women’s track team noticed Wilma. Burt School didn’t have the funding for a track team so Ed invited her to the Tennessee State summer sports camp. She fell in love with running and ended up not only winning many races but the title of World’s Fastest Runner! Wilma won three Olympic gold medals at one single Olympic Game. She gained the title in 1960!
Wilma inspired black women that they could do whatever they set their mind to because she showed how she had done the same. She overcame many challenges as a child and now is an amazing runner!
Work Citied
Krull, Kathleen. Lives of the athletes thrills, spills (and what the neighbors thought). San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1997.
Krull, Kathleen. Wilma unlimited how Wilma Rudolph became the world's fastest woman. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1996.
Sherrow, Victoria. Wilma Rudolph. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, 2000.
http://galenet.galegroup
The netTrekker suite of award-winning products. 11 May 2009 <http://elementary.nettrekker.com/subject/>.
p.com/servlet/KidsInfoBits?locID=s0510&finalAuth=true
13 May 2009 <http://go-kids.grolier.com/splash>.